Cuts and Compliments
by CarefreeRogue
Summary: Robin's hair just can't stay perfect forever, so for the sake of his sanity must turn to his team for a trim.


"We blew it!" A frustrated team entered Titan Tower. "How could we have let them get away?"

"Well, if I may point out, it was not a complete bath—"

"You mean wash—"

"Because we aluminized the robbery."

"You mean we foiled it."

"You understood me, did you not, friend Robin?"

"Yes, Starfire," their fearless leader groaned. "But Jinx and her cronies still escaped. No arrests! And it was my fault!" He threw himself on the couch and the others settled in around him. His hair fell into his eyes and he gruffly ran his fingers through it, but it was futile. It had become a persistent problem during their battle, affecting the outcome negatively.

Robin looked around the room, sizing up his teammates from behind a curtain of hair. His eyes pleaded and as did his voice. "Could one of you give me a haircut?"

"Hee hee hee, I would be delighted!" Starfire flew up and into the kitchen. She grabbed a teacup from the cabinet and put it in the freezer.

"Um, Starfire, what are you doing?" Beast Boy voiced the confusion of the four.

"I am preparing to give Robin the freezing cup treatment!"

"The wha…?"

"It was a simple style I observed one Earth mother administer to her darling offspring." She blushed and held her hands behind her back.

"Starfire, that was the 'chili bowl' treatment and our boy Rob is a bit old for it, anyway." Cyborg was holding back his laughter at the thought of Robin sporting the schoolyard style. Starfire's blush deepened and she returned the cup to the cabinet.

"Yeah, I just want it trimmed back to the way I had it…"

"Ahahaha, I think he should go with the bowl cut!" Beast Boy showed no such tact. Raven hit his shoulder. "Ow, wuzzat for?"

"For being an idiot," she growled. "Hair is a personal thing. No one should ever be forced to wear it any way they don't want."

"Do you think you could cut my hair, Raven?" Robin was beginning to sound discouraged.

"Hey, yeah, you did cut your own hair after… you know." Beast Boy had stopped his giggling and looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, and you help me shave my head every couple days." Cyborg's dome seemed to glint as he said this. "You've never nicked me."

"That's a sound endorsement but," Raven said in monotone. "But shaving is hard to mess up. Do you really trust me to do it?"

Robin moved beside her. "Raven, I trust you with my life every time we go into battle. I think I can handle putting my hair in your hands." He put a hand on her thigh. "There isn't much I wouldn't trust you with." Raven's cheeks tinged the slightest pink. She nodded and left the room to get her hair shears.

"Is Robin still speaking of mane maintenance?" Starfire whispered to Cyborg.

He cocked an eyebrow. "I'm… not sure. Let's not stick around to find out." He cleared his throat audibly. "Hey, BB, wanna go head to head on the portables?"

"Oh man, wait, I gotta go find mine!" They headed out of the room. Robin had relocated himself to the kitchen and was waiting for Raven to return.

She came back with a caddy of barber shop utensils and a vinyl cape draped over one arm. The latter she shook out and swung around Robin's neck.

"Wow, you sure are prepared." She started squirting his hair with what she explained was just tap water.

"Well, it pays in the long run to maintain my short hair myself." She started combing his hair, pausing to gently ease tangles apart. "I never knew your hair became so mussed up during fights."

"Yeah, it's been getting like this since it's been long. Plus… the gel."

"True, so let's take a step to remedy that." She telekinetically moved the boy and the chair over to the sink. "Just lean your head back and relax. How hot do you like the water?" She turned on the tap.

"Hot as you can make it. After a loss like today's, it feels good to scorch it all away." Raven gave him a look. "Don't judge me. I'm sure you have some cleansing ritual for times like this." He let out a low moan as she ran the water over his scalp. Raven blushed.

"Well," she said as she squeezed a little shampoo into her hand. "I do find the ice cold water to be purifying when my mind gets particularly cluttered." She began to massage his head, working the shampoo into a lather.

A slow smile spread across Robin's face and his eyes closed. "I'm so glad I asked you to do this. You're so gentle…"

Raven blushed again. "Anyone would—"

"Don't be so modest, Raven. Ah…" She was rinsing with the near scalding water. "Learn to take a compliment, ok?"

She paused and almost seemed to smile. "Conditioner?"

"Please." She applied the moisturizing cream to his mop and breathed in deeply. "What is that smell?"

"Coconut. Too girly for you?" She bit her lip self consciously, betraying her emotionless voice.

"No, I was just curious. Is it what you use?" She was rinsing his hair again, and she nodded. "I knew I remembered it from some where…"

Again, she gave him a look. "You know what my hair smells like?"

Something akin to embarrassment flitted across Robin's face. "I just… I notice a lot of things that others wouldn't think to note. Detective thing."

"Sit up." She began to run the comb in his hair again. "What else do you notice?"

"Ok, well, shoes. Have you noticed how clean and scuff free Beast Boy's are?"

"Doesn't seem like him."

"Not at all. He got new shoes because his feet grew, means his body will, soon."

"Or that he'll have inordinately large feet." Robin laughed and Raven pinched his ear. "Be still, now, I'll be cutting, soon. You want it just like you had it?"

"If you can manage it, which I trust you will."

She started at the nape of his neck, combing the hair and then securing a lock with her fingers. _Snip_. Wet, his hair was almost to his shoulders. It was a wonder he'd managed to spike it out as much as he had. _Snip_. She worked her way up to around where his callick would be, trimming off just the dead end. _Snip_. She moved to his side and considered his face.

"How do you feel about your sideburns?" She lightly pulled a strand hanging by his ear.

"Sideburns? Uh, well, I don't know. As long as nothing is touching my ears, I can't argue." Carefully, the snipped away offending locks, repeating it on his other side.

Raven set her tool down and turned to her caddy, procuring a hand mirror and her spray bottle. She gave him a few more squirts and ran the comb through his hair once again. Upon handing him the mirror, she took her shears up again.

"You can watch in horror." She pulled the comb into the front of his hair and straight up. _Snip_. Around his temples. _Snip_. His crown. _Snip_. She measured his callick against the rest of his hair. _Snip_. She combed his hair upward and outward, deliberate in her trimmings.

Raven moved to face Robin, hands on her hips. She put both hands on his head and mussed up his hair a bit, putting her chest right in his face. When she drew away, satisfied, she noticed a blush on her leader's face.

"What got into you?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Must be getting hot under this cape…"

"We're almost done, you'll be able to scurry off soon enough." She pulled electric trimmers from out of her caddy. They came to life with a soft buzz. He felt her shaving the back of his neck with careful precision. She blew on his neck a few times, then the buzzing stopped. His blush had deepened.

"Robin, are you sure you're ok? It can't be that hot under there…"

_Well, why don't you climb under with me and find out?_ His mind was abuzz with the attention he was receiving, but he knew better. "Just anticipation, I guess."

"I'm almost done, Wonder Boy. Don't get your tights in a twist." Raven was combing his hair again, blowing some trimmings off his ears. _Was that entirely necessary_? he wondered. Next, he heard her open a small pot then felt her hands on his head once more.

"Raven, you don't need to spike it, I'm about to go to bed."

"I know," she said moving around to his front. Her chest was in his face again. "But don't you want to make sure it looks right?"

_Like I'm going to argue with a view like this. _She reached her arms around his neck to unfasten the cape, putting his face that much closer. Raven then folded it, containing most of the hair, and urged Robin to look in the mirror.

He stood up and put it back in the caddy. "I don't need to; I know it's perfect. Thanks, Raven."

"It was nothing." She averted her eyes.

"Raven, take the compliment." He put a hand on her shoulder and noticed she was blushing, still avoiding looking at him. "What got into you, now?"

"Uh… it's… you," she mumbled. Her eyes met his and darted down meaningfully.

Confused, he looked down, then noticed one of the disadvantages of wearing spandex pants. He blushed. "That's a compliment, too."


End file.
